IN THE NEWS

Conan O’Brien’s TBS talker, “Conan,” will conclude with its tenth season, ending in June 2021, but O’Brien’s days with WarnerMedia aren’t over – he’s launching a new, weekly variety series on HBO Max. “In 1993 Johnny Carson gave me the best advice of my career: ‘As soon as possible, get to a streaming platform,’” said O’Brien. “I’m thrilled that I get to continue doing whatever the hell it is I do on HBO Max, and I look forward to a free subscription.” O’Brien’s travel specials, “Conan Without Borders,” will continue.

Fleets, Twitter posts that disappear after 24 hours, are rolling out to iPhone and Android users globally. “People feel more comfortable joining conversations on Twitter with this ephemeral format because what they’re saying lives just for a moment instead of feeling like it’s around forever,” said Joshua Harris, Twitter Design Director. Twitter joins Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook in offering temporary messages.

Twitter also announced Spaces, which allows users to join virtual rooms and have real-time, audio conversations. How does that compare to a similar service on startup Clubhouse? “It’s not a ‘Here’s an interesting startup doing something interesting. Let’s try and replicate it,’” Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour told CNBC. “It’s very fundamental for us. If we want Twitter to be a place where we can have thoughtful conversations, we need to support a wide spectrum of those conversations.”

Both DTC and non-DTC brands across all life stages turning to TV to drive growth saw an immediate double-digit increase in unique visitors to their digital platforms during their TV launch month, according to “The Halo Effect: TV as a Growth Engine,” an analysis by Comcast’s Effectv and VAB. The analysis of nearly 200 brands indicated that young brands (three years and under) experienced a +138% increase in web traffic after advertising on TV. Older brands saw a 21% increase in website visitors. “This study establishes that TV is a critical growth engine for brands at any life stage,” said James Rothwell, VP, Global Agency, Brand & Industry Relations, Comcast Advertising. “This is especially important today, as economic uncertainty makes it even more important that brands build a media mix that will reach new audiences and drive measurable growth. And for newer brands, who are still establishing their story and identity in market, TV presents an opportunity to ‘legitimize’ their products, bringing credibility and scale in ways no other advertising medium can.”

WPP agencies Geometry and VMLY&R are combining to form VMLY&R COMMERCE, an end-to-end creative commerce company that will operate as a distinct company within the VMLY&R global network. Global CEO Beth Ann Kaminkow, currently global CEO of Geometry, will lead the effort. “Consumer experiences today are centered on commerce, making it increasingly important to our clients’ marketing and media decisions,” said Kamikow. “As the pandemic accelerates new consumer behaviors and expectations, commerce is fast becoming the next channel for the most creative engagements and experiences.” The news comes a week after WPP merged two of its other agencies, AKQA and Grey, to form AKQA Group.

Commerce is also a buzzword at Verizon Media. Throughout November and December, the Verizon Media ecosystem including Yahoo, HuffPost, TechCrunch, In The Know, Engadget, Yahoo Mail and RYOT Studio, are rolling out new shoppable content, series, articles, videos, tools and gift guides that consumers can interact with and transact. “As we continue to expand our commerce offerings and deepen relationships with our partners, we’re excited to provide a seamless way for our consumers to connect to their passions and innovate through the power of our ecosystem this holiday season,” said Joanna Lambert, Head of Consumer, Verizon Media.

“Woke” landed an eight-episode season two renewal from Hulu. The live-action/animated comedy follows a Black cartoonist who is on the verge of mainstream success when an incident gives him a newfound consciousness that challenges him with new ideas.

Nick Jonas is returning the The Voice for the NBC competition’s 20th season, premiering in the spring. Jonas, who was a coach during season 18, will step in for Gwen Stefani to join Blake Shelton, John Legend and Kelly Clarkson.

TikTok announced new parental controls, among them the ability to determine what content teens can search for, and whether their profile is public or private. “Our aim is to strike a balance between safety and autonomy for teenagers as we work to create a safe and supportive place for self-expression,” wrote Tracy Elizabeth, Head of Global Minor safety Policy, and Alexandra Evans, Head of Child Safety Public Policy for Europe, in a blog post. “As young people start to build a presence online, we believe it’s important to give families tools so parents and teens can set guardrails together.” As of June, 32.5% of the short-form video app’s users sere between the ages of 10 and 19.

Thanks to all of you who attended day one of Cynopsis’ Measurement & Data Virtual Conference. We covered cross-media measurement, data quality, attribution, OTT, diversity and social videos in just 3 hours. This is your last chance to grab a virtual seat for tomorrow’s line-up of OTT, Data Storytelling, Privacy + Cybersecurity, and more. Register using this link for 50% off (which also provides access to the VOD from yesterday’s sessions and presentations).

Starz is developing a slate of series inspired by “extraordinary women of history” from Lionsgate TV and Playground (“Wolf Hall,” “Howards End”). Starz has acquired the rights to best-selling author and historian Alison Weir’s biography Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life and its companion novel Captive Queen.

Terence Winter (“Boardwalk Empire”), who was set to write and serve as showrunner for HBO Max’s spinoff of Matt Reeves film “The Batman, has departed the project due to creative differences. The untitled series, set in the Gotham police department, comes under Reeves’ overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.

Nickelodeon has set the cast for its upcoming preschool series “Baby Shark’s Big Show!”: Kimiko Glenn (“Orange is the New Black”); Luke Youngblood (“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”); Natasha Rothwell (“Insecure”); Eric Edelstein (“We Bare Bears”); Debra Wilson (“MADtv”); and Patrick Warburton (“Seinfeld”). The series premieres with a holiday special on Friday, December 11 at 12:30p.

Tamera Mowry-Housely (“The Real”) signed a new overall deal with Crown Media Family Networks to star in and executive produce original Hallmark movies, as well as join “Home & Family” as a contributor in December. Mowry-Housely is no stranger to Hallmark, having starred in and exec produced “A Christmas Miracle,” and starred in “Christmas Angel.”

Smithsonian Channel has greenlit “Ultimate Viking” (w/t), with a format combining adventure with immersive living history to reveal secrets of Viking society. Kristofer Hivju “Game of Thrones” and factual presenter Gry Molvær Hivju host the new series, which will include a one-hour accompanying documentary slated to air in 2021 on Smithsonian Channel. Production will take place in the UK and Norway.

Mattel Television is developing a game show inspired by the card game UNO, in partnership with Propagate. “The UNO Game Show” will incorporate audience participation, physical challenges and trivia.

Great Pacific Media is developing a scripted drama series based on the father of the American Space Program and former Nazi scientist Wernher Von Braun. “Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War” is based on Michael J. Neufeld’s biography of the controversial Von Braun. Simon Barry (“Bad Blood”) is also attached as an executive producer, writer and director through his production company, Reality Distortion Field. Thunderbird’s President Mark Miller will also Executive Produce on behalf of Great Pacific Media.

Transgender actor J.J. Hawkins (“The Red Line”) is joining season three of the CW’s “Charmed” as the drama’s first transgender character.

NEW & RETURNING SERIES

TNT’s “Snowpiercer” is back for season two on Monday, January 25 at 9p. The show is cable’s #1 new drama, reaching 32 million viewers to date across linear and digital platforms.

Amazon Prime competition series “The Pack,” hosted by gold medalist Lindsey Vonn and her canine co-host Lucy, celebrates the bond between dogs and their humans. All episodes drop on the streamer Friday, November 20.

“Go-Big Show” makes its debut on TBS on Thursday, January 7 at 9p. The extreme talent competition features daring acts and behind-the-scenes stories. Tuesday, January 26 at 10:30p brings the season three premiere of the net’s “The Misery Index,” inspired by the card game Sh*t Happens.

TruTV welcomes back “Impractical Jokers” for season nine on Thursday, February 4 at 10p, followed by “Fast Foodies,” reimagining celebrity guests’ favorite fast food dishes, at 10:30p.

Food Network Kitchen has launched “Just Ask the Baker,” a new series from Tastemade hosted by actor/author Meghan Rienks. Part baking show, part advice column, the first five episodes are available on the Food Network Kitchen app.

Scripted Mexican wrestling series “Heroes of Luche Libre” launches on Crackle on Wednesday, November 25. The 11-parter celebrates the cultural tradition of the sport, while integrating a comic book storyline.

Cynopsis’ Adtech Awards program celebrates the best advances in the technology that underpins the media business. From outstanding ad and brand safety solutions to deft achievements in strategy and implementation, w’re set to shine a well-deserved spotlight on those who are making a difference in the digital media supply chain. Complimentary registration is available for our Digital Awards on 12/1 – sign up to (virtually) applaud all the winners and honorable mentions!

STREAMING

Vevo released the complete list for its Vevo DSCVR “Artists to Watch” campaign, championing emerging artists through live performance content. “This is so much more than just a list for us; capturing performances from these artists and providing video content for fans to engage with on a global scale,” said JP Evangelista, SVP of Content, Programming & Marketing, “The health of our team and artists alike is of utmost importance to Vevo. We were pleased to be able to shoot and deliver these performances with proper safety protocols in place, despite obvious challenges.”

Reelgood is officially launching Swipe with Friends, a feature to help users find something a group wants to watch, by swiping left or right on movie and TV show recommendations until a match is made. Reelgood’s recommendation system combined with filters for IMDb score, genre, release year, and more is aimed at providing relevant titles to swipe through.

HEALTH CHECK-UPS

Al Roker told “Today” viewers he expects to return to the show on Monday, November 23, following surgery for prostate cancer. Roker’s doctor said based on lab results, his patient has “an excellent prognosis.”

“The Good Doctor” star Richard Schiff, who tested positive for COVID-19 on November 3, has been hospitalized. Schiff reported via Twitter that he is being treated with Remdesivir, oxygen and steroids, and “showing some improvement every day.”

COMING UP

In addition to an appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” tomorrow, November 19, former President Barack Obama will sit down with Stephen Colbert for an “extended” interview for CBS’s “Late Show” next week. The sit-down will take place in D.C.

HyperX is teaming up with Blizzard Entertainment for a livestream event to celebrate the launch of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, Blizzard’s new expansion for its multiplayer online role-playing game. WoW fans can join the Into the Shadowlands event through HyperX’s Twitch channel on Friday, November 20, leading up to the expansion’s November 23 release.

Argentine pop singer Diego Torres performs in HBO Latino’s concert special, “Diego Torres Sinfonico,” debuting Friday, December 18 at 9:30p on HBO Latino, TNT in Latin America and HBO Max.

TECH TALK

Nine out of ten advertisers and marketers agree that DOOH is the right place to invest currently due to consumers’ device fatigue and a shift to spending more time outdoors due to the pandemic, according to a survey Verizon Media’s “Digital Out of Home (DOOH) Advertiser Attitudes & Behavior Research Report.” After advertisers flocked to digital and away from OOH in the early stages of the pandemic, the trend is now reversing. Additional findings include:
· With DOOH budgets bouncing back, spending is surging as well. 39% of advertisers expect to increase DOOH spending in the next 6 months, while 59% are expected to increase spending within 18 months.
· 53% of advertisers find it “difficult” to buy DOOH today. In addition, 29% are having more difficulty buying now compared to 6 months ago.
· The top-three obstacles when buying DOOH among advertisers/marketers are “high costs” (50%), “finding the right partner to work with” (44%), and “managing and optimization” (36%).
· The top things that could make buying DOOH easier are “competitive pricing” (50%), “real-time audience indexing,” i.e. showing ads only at times where there’s a high concentration of your target audience (50%), and “the ability to quickly change creative or frequency of my campaign” (49%).

Google Ads will start showing new Recommendations for advertisers switching to broad match in Google Ads. “We want to make it easier for you to benefit from this strategy in your own accounts,” said Google in a blog post. “If you’re using Smart Bidding, we’ll identify existing keywords that are likely to improve performance if you switch them to broad match.” By pairing a broad match keyword with Smart Bidding, “you can use auction-time signals to set the right bid for each of these queries,” said Google. “This means that you no longer need to anticipate and manage every potential search.

Premion, the CTV/OTT advertising platform for regional and local advertisers, announced that it achieved the TAG Certified Against Fraud Seal from the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG), recognizing the steps Premion has taken in the fight against fraudulent advertising. Created by the 4A’s, ANA and IAB, TAG is a global certification program fighting criminal activity. “Brand safety and performance outcomes are at the forefront of advertiser priorities and we’ve invested in our capabilities to combat ad fraud since it first emerged in the OTT ecosystem,” said Tom Cox, President of Premion. “This recognition validates what we’ve been doing from the onset — directly sourcing inventory from premium, known publishers and using cutting-edge technology to detect and filter for fraud.”

Twitter added 300,000 warning labels to election-related tweets between October 27 and November 11, said Co-Founder and CEO Jack Dorsey during Tuesday’s hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the committee they were in favor of revamping Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which gives tech companies the ability to moderate content, without holding them responsible for what users post.

Identity resolution company Tru Optik has struck a partnership with SpringServe, the ad serving platform for OTT and CTV, to bring audience targeting, measurement and attribution to CTV publishers and broadcasters using SpringServe’s management platform. CTV buyers and sellers utilizing SpringServe’s platform will be able to segment and target audiences based on data offered through TruOptik’s Data Marketplace. “Tru Optik’s patented approach to OTT identity resolution and associated massive scale enriches SpringServe’s robust ad serving tools with unique functionality. The Tru Optik Data Marketplace dramatically expands our third-party data library and empowers our suppliers to sell against deterministic data,” said Joe Hirsch, CEO of SpringServe.

VIZIO Ads, the direct-to-device advertising business for TV brand VIZIO, announced that it will use Nielsen’s Digital Ad Ratings to help advertisers better measure and optimize digital audience metrics across VIZIO SmartCast inventory on VIZIO connected TVs. Nielsen is also measuring addressable campaigns on VIZIO that utilize the open addressable standard developed by Project OAR. “Implementing Nielsen advanced TV measurement will be a catalyst for our already exploding ads business because it enables brands to transact on traditional linear and connected TV seamlessly,” said Mike O’Donnell, Chief Revenue Officer of VIZIO’s Platform Business.

Programmatic video platform Tremor Video announced that the number of clients using its self-service DSP has more than doubled and self-service ad spend has increased by 650% since 3Q19. New enhancements include quick and bulk editing tools and programmatic guarantees, which enable direct 1:1 deals with publishers. “Tremor Video’s self-service DSP allows us to be an even stronger partner for our brand clients by ensuring their ad campaigns reach the most highly-targeted audience possible,” said Tim Lathrop, Digital Director at Mediassociates. “It affords us a greater sense of ownership over these campaigns, while helping us execute more efficiently and providing key insights we can use to optimize performance, all in an easy-to-use platform.”

Simpli.fi has launched a feature in its attribution and reporting suite called Transaction Value Reporting, enabling advertisers to track purchase price and order ID data to attribute performance such as return on ad spend. “During COVID we’ve seen an interest in making sure every media dollar counts,” said Frost Prioleau, CEO at Simpli.fi. “People have a tight advertising budget and want to make sure they’re getting a return.”

LiveRamp TV and Kinetiq announced a partnership to streamline measurement of TV ad exposures across traditionally siloed channels. By leveraging Kinetiq’s international ad catalog of 2,600 TV stations, LiveRamp’s Data Plus Math TV measurement solution can capture ad airings, impressions and formats to connect previously disparate channels to produce more comprehensive measurement and accurate reports. “As viewership continues to fragment throughout the rapidly changing TV landscape, the value of cross-screen measurement and reporting increases tenfold,” said John Hoctor, GM of LiveRamp TV. “Access to Kinetiq’s intelligence platform allows us to connect the highest quantities of data with the agility and foresight necessary to deliver across any screen, be it linear, digital, streaming or beyond.”

GOING GLOBAL

9 Story Distribution International has secured multiple international sales for the first season of the 3D animated preschool series “Dr. Panda,” including a license with Russia’s Carousel, which premiered the series earlier this month. Other new broadcast deals include True Visions (Thailand), Somos TV (multi-territory, Spanish), MOLA TV (Indonesia) and WOW Unlimited (Canada).

MTV International’s “Celeb Ex in the City,” the latest extension of its global franchise “Ex on the Beach,” premieres across MTV International’s channels around the world beginning December 8. This time around, the show trades in its typical sandy paradise for London city life.

Stone Village Television has partnered with international production company BlackBox Multimedia to adapt Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a television series. The adventure series will be a fresh take on the book, including experiential elements.

In more BlackBox Multimedia news, the company is teaming with Night Train for the international co-production of “The Ex Wife.” The series, based on the Jess Ryder psychological thriller novel of the same name, marks the screenwriting debut of New York Times bestselling author and actress Catherine Steadman.

Comedy Central UK announced a deal with podcast platform Acast to become its distribution and monetization partner for a new podcast series based on online short-form series, “Dragony Aunts.” The podcast will be hosted by original drag queen stars of the digital series, Crystal Rasmussen and Candy Warhol.

Scorpion TV, the London-based independent content distributor, reports Spanish national broadcaster RTVE has acquired “Holy Silence” for its Documentos channel. The doc reveals the truth about “Hitler’s Pope,” Pius XII, accused of being a Nazi sympathizer.

ShortsTV, the linear and OTT HD TV channel dedicated to short form video entertainment, has launched on Amazon Prime Video Channels in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question
On which British sitcom was “The Ropers,” the short-lived “Three’s Company” spinoff, based? “George and Mildred”: Kudos to: Liz Healy-BVA BDRC/London, Pete Hazell-Discovery Communications Europe/London, Dan Whitford-WTTW/Chicago, Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station, TX, Carl Mayer-Active International/Pearl River, NY, Fred Cerullo/NYC, Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC, Charles Lore/NYC, Jerry Jones/Walnut Creek, CA, Ken DuBow-Bob’s Your Uncle/LA, Susan Nessanbaum-Godberg-M and S Entertainment/LA, Darren Wadyko-Darren Wadyko Media/North Hollywood, CA

Today’s Trivia Question
What was the first TV series to be #1 in the Nielsen ratings for five years in a row? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four answers per time zone.)